At Woodstock Fair, farming history on display

Tuesday

Sep 3, 2013 at 12:01 AMSep 3, 2013 at 3:00 AM

Despite the blinking lights of the carnival and the colorful food booths, the Woodstock Fair, at its heart, is about promoting local agriculture and retaining the history of the region’s farms and farmers.

John Penney

Despite the blinking lights of the carnival and the colorful food booths, the Woodstock Fair, at its heart, is about promoting local agriculture and retaining the history of the region’s farms and farmers.

During the fair’s last day on Monday, visitors meandered past Antiques Corner, an area tucked away in the south section of the fairgrounds. Behind rows of tractors and threshers, Danielson resident Chuck Weimer began cranking up his collection of antique gas-powered, water-cooled engines.

“Farmers would use these to power corn grinders, water pumps — anything that needed power to run,” he said. “This is the history here, stuff that’s been running for a hundred years or more. We get families here that walk up and don’t know what something is, but we also see people that remember using this equipment as children.”

Weimer said his collection comes from a variety of sources, including barns and houses, along from more remote sites.

“Sometimes I find things in the woods, or along fence roads,” he said.

A few feet from the sputtering motors, Thompson resident Sally White welcomed visitors to the Brunn Barn, a structure built in 1822 about a half-mile from the fair.

“About a decade ago, the barn was dismantled and then re-assembled here,” White said.

Inside the cavernous space, sickles, scythes and hay forks were displayed on walls, with horse-driven sleighs and sleds roped-off on the barn’s upper level. Near the entrance, a pair of cows contentedly chewed hay inside a set of wooden stanchions that allowed them to eat and lay down.

“This is a place for those drawn to agriculture,” White said. “Unfortunately, some people may not have tasted that joy. Though for those that have, they now how interesting it can be.”

The fair’s Main Exhibition Hall, plates of deep purple eggplant, gold peaches and bumpy squash were on display, along with cartons of white and brown eggs, stalks of rhubarb and miniature pears — all featuring a judging ribbon.

At the fair’s Agricultural Exhibition Building, Christmas trees and jars of honey were offered for sale. In a corner, visitors were encouraged to sample slices of Paula Red and Ginger Gold apples, courtesy of the Quinebaug Valley Fruit Growers group. Tanyia Wolchesky, of Pomfret’s Lapsley Orchards, said the fair’s agricultural flavor is a reflection of the region.

“(Woodstock) is a small town, and that’s why we have the fair here,” she said. “There’s local farmers and growers who live and work here. And where else but this fair are you going to see two steers being walked right through the midway?